Human Values Versus Technology in Waiting for Godot and Civilization an

Human Values Versus Technology in Beckett's Waiting for Godot and Freud's Civilization and its Discontents One of the most significant and wondrous features of today's society is the progress that has occurred with the passing of years and generations. Never before has humanity witnessed the technological advances that are now transpiring. Such advances encompass almost every facet of life as humanity knows it: from biomedical engineering to the exploration of outer-space. Science has proven to be beneficial to life as well as to the expansion of the mind. However, civilization is not in need solely of scientific revolutions. As the famous Beckett and Freud have implied in their literary works, humanity has not lost touch with innate human values that have been intrinsically bestowed upon it. These values, implicitly stated in the works created by Beckett and Freud, are the need for companionship, and purpose and meaning in life. The ideas of companionship and meaning in life are ubiquitous in Beckett's play Waiting for Godot. Much of the play is a mockery of the condition humanity would be faced with in a meaningless world. The four main characters in the play, Vladimir, Estragon, Pozzo, and Lucky, undeniably represent the lazy side of humanity in that they spend their lives waiting for something elusive that evidently will not ever appear. By the end of the play, Vladimir and Estragon are still hoping for this arrival, and there has been no trace of it. This demonstrates the futility of spending so much time anticipating an event that is not likely to happen, given previous experience. Beckett's play is therefore a mockery of the human value of purpose and meaning in life. Not only does Beckett's play ... ...ng new ideas regarding humanity. With the progress of new knowledge and technology, it seems reasonable that human values would advance as well. This, however, has not proven to be the case. Instead, the values that are innate to humanity have remained firmly established since the beginning of time. For example, people are still seeking the meaning of life in religion, as they did thousands of years ago, even though there has not been any discovery that has supported religion. In addition, people still seek companionship in the form of dating, families, sex, and friendship. Companionship has not become obsolete with the advancement of technology, and the way companionship is viewed has not adapted to the realities in society. As much as technology and science have contributed, a value as simple as acceptance of diversity has not progressed nearly as much.